Surrogate Process

Surrogate Process

At The Surrogacy SOURCE, we’ve found that many women are curious about the individual steps involved in the process of becoming a gestational surrogate. Below we have outlined each phase in the surrogacy journey, beginning with the initial application, continuing with screening and matching, and finally arriving at pregnancy and delivery. This information can help you decide if surrogacy is the right choice for you.

Becoming a surrogate is an incredible experience, and we hope you will join us on this journey!

Application

Once we approve your initial application, we will invite you to complete a full surrogate profile and submit photos.

A member of our staff will review your profile and schedule a telephone interview with you. We will request pregnancy, delivery and postpartum records from your obstetrician and set up your one-on-one assessment.

Screening and Testing

After we admit you to our surrogacy program, the next step is screening. The entire screening process takes about 2-4 weeks, with the start date and dates for individual interviews and appointments depending on your availability.

After we receive all necessary records from your obstetrician’s office, our staff will review your records and determine if they meet our criteria.

A case manager or a licensed social worker will come to your home for a casual meeting with you and your partner. A Skype interview will be conducted in cases where distance prohibits an in-home interview.

We will then schedule a comprehensive evaluation of you and your partner with a licensed psychologist to determine if you are a good candidate for surrogacy.

Selection and Matching

We will add you to our roster of available surrogates after we receive screening and testing clearance.

When Intended Parents show interest in your profile, your case manager will contact you. You will then have an opportunity to review the Intended Parents’ profile before you decide to meet with them.

The case manager will schedule and facilitate the Match Meeting between you and the Intended Parents. After giving you a chance to review, the Case Manager will ask you to notify her of your decision to proceed or not.

Once you are matched, you will contact your assigned attorney for consultation, a process which will help protect you in all legal matters regarding the surrogacy agreement. (We’ll make sure you have the attorney’s contact information ahead of time.)

As soon as the contract is finalized, signed by all parties and notarized, you will begin to receive monthly surrogacy checks and attend enjoyable and informative monthly surrogate support groups.

Pregnancy and Delivery

Now you are on your way to becoming pregnant! You will have a comprehensive physical evaluation at the Intended Parents’ fertility clinic, and your partner will have blood tests as well.

After the physical evaluation, you start a cycle calendar of birth control pills and then hormone injections to prepare your body for the embryo transfer, which takes place at the Intended Parents’ fertility clinic.

About 7 days after the embryo transfer, you will go to a local lab approved by the fertility clinic to have a blood test. The clinic will inform you and your case manager of your hormone levels (These may indicate pregnancy).

If pregnancy is confirmed, you will schedule an ultrasound. This is a very exciting time for surrogates as they can now inform the Intended Parents that their dream of being a parent will be a reality. Until around 10 weeks of pregnancy, you will have several monitoring ultrasounds at a fertility clinic near your home. At this point you will visit your own obstetrician for the duration of the pregnancy, including delivery.

When the baby or babies are born, your role as a gestational surrogate is complete. You can relax and recover from the birth knowing you’ve made an incredible lifelong impact on a deserving family!

About

Fertility SOURCE Companies’ mission is to provide individuals who are unable to conceive with the assistance they need to become parents, including matching them with an egg donor, surrogate or both. As one of the largest egg donor and surrogacy agencies operating on a national level in the United States, Fertility SOURCE Companies is proud to provide our clientele with the most comprehensive third party reproductive care and coordination.